To be totally honest, I feel like a have one billion projects on the go that need to be finished BUT I couldn’t let a One Room Challenge go by without my participation! I’m a sucker for punishment (and projects). If you haven’t heard of the “ORC”, it’s a challenge hosted by Calling it Home where several featured design bloggers and hundreds of guest bloggers make over one room in their home in the period of six weeks. It’s a lot of fun, a little stressful, but very motivating and inspiring. So far, I’ve participated in two ORCs, and here’s a look at the rooms I made over:

2016 Spring One Room Challenge: Shabby Chic Kids’ Bedroom

Before:

After:

2016 Fall One Room Challenge: Modern French Country Master Bedroom

Before:

After:

I’m at a point where I feel like almost all of the rooms in our home are complete. Yes, we still do have lots of the mundane finishing work to do like trim caulking and painting – and I’d like to do some more trim work on some feature walls (that’s coming this year, I hope!) – but most of our home is the way I’d hoped it would be when we moved in almost 4 years ago. (See our latest home tour here!)

There has been one room in our home that I’ve been mulling over for a year or so. It’s a beautiful room, but it simply hasn’t been functional for us. The room? Our formal sitting room at the front of our home. I think it’s so pretty and I usually get a lot of compliments on its looks, but the bottom line is that we hardly ever use it. It’s become a place where I do photo shoots for the blog and store extra camera gear and decor in the corners.

When I first designed this room, I thought it would be a place where I’d sip a coffee and read a book, but I usually do that with half an eye on the kids in the kitchen or main living room.

I’ve been going back and forth with this idea over the last 12 months — what if we converted this space into what our house plan originally meant it to be? Could this space work better for our family as a formal dining room?

After much contemplation, I’ve decided that the answer is: YES! I think a table in this room could serve multiple purposes for us. It could act as more seating for large gatherings (we do have a great breakfast nook in our kitchen, but we could fit more people here in this room with a larger table), we could use the table for games and homework, and it could also be a place to stretch out for sewing and crafts.

We often find ourselves clearing sewing machines and crafts off the kitchen table before meals, so a separate dining area for formal dining and alternate table area would be really functional for our family.

To make this makeover make sense (considering I love lots of the pieces in this room already!), I’m simply going to get a table and a few new chairs and incorporate the current furniture. The settee will act as a comfy dining seating option, I can use my vintage cane chairs as captains chairs, and I’m going to makeover the buffet on the wall for a fresh look:

(Interestingly enough, this buffet is actually a dresser that I bought 15ish years ago on clearance at The Brick. It was my very first piece of furniture!)

I’m also tired of that gallery wall, so I think something a little simpler like a grand mirror or large scale art would look better there.

Here’s the look I’m hoping to achieve for our new formal dining room. It’s going to be farmhouse inspired with a bohemian twist. Of course, since it’s my home and it’s the first room you see, I want to incorporate my favourite colour – teal.

The inspiration for this mood board was the current colour of the room (which I don’t want to change save some white board + batten detail on the bottom) and the beautiful farmhouse style dining table. I fell in love with the curved legs and thought they were very bohemian farmhouse.

On top of the re-configuring and redecorating in this space, I also want to add some trim detail to the entry and walls of the room. I think board and batten really suits the style of our home, so I’m hoping to DIY some board and batten trim work on the lower third of the walls. We’ll see how ambitious I get!

Make sure to follow along here over the next 6 weeks as I work on our new dining room, and visit the One Room Challenge blog to see all of the other makeovers as they progress!

What do you think of this look?

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own. This post also contains affiliate links.

I can totally see you hosting one of your killer feasts at this table and the thought of your sewing projects spread out is so endearing, this is the perfect room for the wonderful activities of entertaining and creating! Excited to follow along!Laurie @ Vin’yet Etc. recently posted..Date night – raclette dining for two

Oooh! Those earlier transformations are incredible! I love that you’re using your settee as a seating option. It sounds like such a cozy way to dine. And that teal rug is beautiful. Can’t wait to see how you transform the space with so many of the same pieces!Leslie recently posted..3 Unusual Ways to Create a Design Plan, When You Have No Clue

I really like the design plan (that overdyed rug is amazing!) and it will be interesting to see how the furniture works in the dining room. (The light colours near food would make me nervous!) Good luck 🙂

Good for you making over a room to make it more functional – especially when it’s already so beautiful. I know how tempting it must have been to leave it as is! But I’m sure your new space will be just as stunning – if not more. Can’t wait to see it!Larissa recently posted..Your Top 5 Favourite Posts

What an exciting overhaul. I love when you find a better function for a room. I am really interesting and excited to see how this room turns out. I always like the look of rooms with a plethora of furniture but I am afraid that my design style prohibits me from doing it!

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